Jeremiah 12–13

Chapter 12

Jeremiah’s Prayer

^1aRighteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;

Indeed I would ^bdiscuss matters of justice with You:

Why has the ^cway of the wicked prospered?

Why are all those who ^ddeal in treachery at ease?

²You have ^aplanted them, they have also taken root;

They grow, they have even produced fruit.

You are ^bnear ¹to their lips

But far from their ²mind.

³But You ^aknow me, O Lord;

You see me;

And You ^bexamine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And ¹set them apart for a ^cday of carnage!

⁴How long is the ^aland to mourn

And the ^bvegetation of the countryside to wither?

For the ^cwickedness of those who dwell in it,

^dAnimals and birds have been snatched away,

Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ^eending.”

⁵“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the ^1athicket of the Jordan?

⁶“For even your ^abrothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have cried aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say ^bnice things to you.”

God’s Answer

⁷“I have ^aforsaken My house,

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the ^bbeloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

⁸“My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has ^1aroared against Me;

Therefore I have come to ^bhate her.

⁹“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the ^abirds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the ^bbeasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

¹⁰“Many ^ashepherds have ruined My ^bvineyard,

They have ^ctrampled down My field;

They have made My ^dpleasant field

A desolate wilderness.

¹¹“¹It has been made a desolation,

Desolate, it ^amourns ²before Me;

The ^bwhole land has been made desolate,

Because no man ^clays it to heart.

¹²“On all the ^1abare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a ^bsword of the Lord is devouring

From one end of the land even to the ²other;

There is ^cno peace for ³anyone.

¹³“They have ^asown wheat and have reaped thorns,

They have ^bstrained themselves ¹to no profit.

But be ashamed of your ^2charvest

Because of the ^dfierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all My ^awicked neighbors who ^bstrike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will ^cuproot the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵“And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will ^aagain have compassion on them; and I will ^bbring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

¹⁶“Then if they will really ^alearn the ways of My people, to ^bswear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to ^cswear by Baal, they will be ^dbuilt up in the midst of My people.

¹⁷“But if they will not listen, then I will ^auproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

Chapter 13

The Ruined Waistband

¹Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and ^abuy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”

²So I bought the waistband in accordance with the ^aword of the Lord and put it around my waist.

³Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,

⁴“Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to ¹the ^aEuphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, ^aas the Lord had commanded me.

⁶After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.”

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁹“Thus says the Lord, ‘Just so will I destroy the ^apride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰‘This wicked people, who ^arefuse to listen to My words, who ^bwalk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.

¹¹‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah ^acling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for ^1brenown, for ^cpraise and for glory; but they ^ddid not listen.’

Captivity Threatened

¹²“Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.” ’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’

¹³then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with ^adrunkenness!

¹⁴“I will ^adash them against each other, both the ^bfathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will ^cnot show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.” ’ ”

¹⁵Listen and give heed, do not be ^ahaughty,

For the Lord has spoken.

^16aGive glory to the Lord your God,

Before He brings ^bdarkness

And before your ^cfeet stumble

On the dusky mountains,

And while you are hoping for light

He makes it into ^ddeep darkness,

And turns it into gloom.

¹⁷But ^aif you will not listen to it,

My soul will ^bsob in secret for such pride;

And my eyes will bitterly weep

And flow down with tears,

Because the ^cflock of the Lord has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the ^aking and the queen mother,

“^bTake a lowly seat,

For your beautiful ^ccrown

Has come down from your head.”

¹⁹The ^acities of the Negev have been locked up,

And there is no one to open them;

All ^bJudah has been carried into exile,

Wholly carried into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming ^afrom the north.

Where is the ^bflock that was given you,

Your beautiful sheep?

²¹“What will you say when He appoints over you—

And you yourself had taught them—

Former ^1acompanions to be head over you?

Will not ^bpangs take hold of you

Like a woman in childbirth?

²²“If you ^asay in your heart,

‘^bWhy have these things happened to me?’

Because of the ^cmagnitude of your iniquity

^dYour skirts have been removed

And your heels have ¹been exposed.

²³“^aCan the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Then you also can ^bdo good

Who are accustomed to doing evil.

²⁴“Therefore I will ^ascatter them like drifting straw

To the desert ^bwind.

²⁵“This is your ^alot, the portion measured to you

From Me,” declares the Lord,

“Because you have ^bforgotten Me

And trusted in falsehood.

²⁶“So I Myself have also ^astripped your skirts off over your face,

That your shame may be seen.

²⁷“As for your ^aadulteries and your lustful neighings,

The ^blewdness of your prostitution

On the ^chills in the field,

I have seen your abominations.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

^dHow long will you remain unclean?”